OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires New Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 205,854 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,634,000. Progressive makes up approximately 1.1% of OFI Invest Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Progressive by 2,262.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE PGR opened at $279.77 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $194.49 and a fifty-two week high of $287.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.70. The stock has a market cap of $164.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.